Prologue
by J.W.Melmoth
Summary: Set during Valentines' Weekend - Kurt is in Lima and Adam gets a visitor from back home. Mostly Adam thinking about Kurt and wondering where he stands. Written for the '30 words - 30 days' challenge.


Written for a self-set Kurt Hummel challenge to include 1 random dictionary word per day for 30 days. Dictionary word: prologue

**Pairing/Chars:** Kadam, Adam/OC**  
****Words:** 1720**  
****Genre:** general**  
****Rating: **PG**  
Summary: **Set during Valentines' Weekend - Kurt is in Lima and Adam gets a visitor from back home. Mostly Adam thinking about Kurt and wondering where he stands.

* * *

**Prologue**

"I really appreciate this, you know."

"Don't mention it." Adam looked at his old friend and smiled. Seeing him in New York was like having a part of Essex back with him. As Liam called out of the blue after months of radio silence, announcing he was de-boarding at JFK as they spoke and needed a place to stay for the weekend, Adam hadn't hesitated. He had grabbed his beanie and got straight into a cab to pick him up.

Liam smiled back. "You look like a New Yorker," he commented, nudging Adam's shoulder playfully. Adam grinned.

"No, I don't. You should see the guys at NYADA." He couldn't help his mind from automatically skipping to Kurt Hummel. "They look…fantastic. Like they just walked off a catwalk. It's all Alexander McQueen and Vivian Westwood…I guess I could try to pass my thrift store look for vintage but I doubt any of them would fall for it." He noticed Liam looking at him with a curious expression and realised he had been namedropping the labels Kurt liked wearing. "Just some names I picked up. I _do_ talk to people here, you know."

Liam smiled amiably. "As long as you don't start _sounding_ like a New Yorker," he teased. "That's just atrocious."

Adam chuckled. "Dear me, no! I'm carefully maintaining the one thing I have going in my favour here: my cute British accent. The Americans are crazy for it." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "It reminds them of David Beckham."

Liam laughed. "He's from London!"

Adam smirked. "They can't tell the difference."

Liam shook his head and sat back into the car seat. "So tell me about these Americans who are crazy for you. Anyone in particular?"

Adam hesitated, his mind wandering to Kurt again. He wished he could say the beautiful new NYADA student liked him as much as Adam liked him, but he wasn't sure that was really the case. He had been completely infatuated with Kurt from the moment he sang at the Winter Showcase, but he had been getting mixed signals in return. It had been difficult to approach him. Kurt was very guarded, and no matter how much Adam tried to compliment him, he always found a way to deflect his praise or turn it around. Kurt was unlike the other men Adam had met in college, all self-assured performers who soaked up praise like a sponge, convinced of their secure Broadway career after getting into NYADA. And all the while, Kurt was the most talented singer Adam had heard to grace the class of Madame Tibideaux! If anyone had a good reason to be arrogant, it was him. But he wasn't. Adam hadn't quite been able to figure out why, but it intrigued him. He had been pleasantly surprised when Kurt asked him out- Adam, of all the guys there, with his cap-flattened hair and his straggling group of misfits and his complete lack of impressive first-name basis friendships to any of the NYADA superstars! Not many people wanted to be seen with him. NYADA was all about connections, and Adam's were sparse. Kurt had nothing to gain from dating him - except, of course, Adam's complete adoration, which he had already laid at Kurt's feet.

Their first coffee date had been comfortable, and a few more had followed; when they were alone, Kurt seemed more at ease and he had been very enthusiastic about the Apples, telling Adam how they reminded him of his Glee club at school and that, if he found the time between classes and his internship, he really wanted to join. Adam could tell it he really meant it and it wasn't just a polite "thanks-but-no-thanks" wrapped up in a compliment. Kurt had also asked Adam all about England and confessed to being something of a Royal Family fan. (It still amused Adam that people abroad actually cared about that when they weren't forced to by national pride). It turned out Kurt loved British tv-shows, which Adam had archived for future reference. Maybe he might be able to convince Kurt to come around for tea one afternoon if he connected it to a Sherlock marathon. But at the same time, he had been hesitant about answering Adam's questions about his life in Ohio. All Adam knew was that he used to live with his dad, and that he had an ex-boyfriend, who was, according to Kurt, the most talented kid in his old school, if not in all the state- which Adam found a little hard to believe, having seen Kurt. It seemed unlikely that Ohio would produce a Kurt Hummel, a Rachel Berry, and yet _another_ teenage wonder to trump them both. More likely, Kurt just didn't like talking bad about other people, and it was just another way of deflecting attention away from himself.

Adam realised Liam was still waiting for an answer and quickly shook his head. "No, no one in particular." He looked out of the window. "We're almost there."

* * *

Liam proposed a Valentines' Day trolling of the lonely hearts cafe's, his theory being that if there was ever a night easy for picking up the disappointed and desperate for a sympathy tumble, it would be that day. Adam went along, though he wasn't really interested in finding someone for himself. And even if he was, whenever Liam was around, guys didn't really seem to pay Adam any attention anyway.

To Liam's surprise, though, the lines that had worked in the gay bars back home turned out to be too subtle for the jaded New Yorkers. Neither of them got lucky - and so they got drunk. After getting kicked out of the last bar for singing an old (and rather offensive) Gaelic drinking song at the top of their lungs, Liam and Adam ended up back on Adam's couch in his small, one-room apartment, and through the haze of alcohol, Adam vaguely noticed his beanie was on the floor and Liam's hands were in his hair.

"Liam," he sighed, "do you really think this is a good idea?" He leaned into the caress even as he spoke, knowing his brain probably had a good reason for protesting, but his body having problems remembering why. They had never been a couple, but it wouldn't be the first night they sought a few thrills in each other's arms. It wasn't like they had a large group of eligible gay friends to fall back on. For a long time, Liam had been the only person Adam knew who was interested in boys.

"Mmm's a great idea," Liam mumbled, shifting against him and licking a stripe up Adam's skin, his tongue catching on the hard bob of his throat. Adam swallowed against Liam's lips. It had been a very long time since someone had kissed him. One evening, after a coffee date with Kurt that had lasted for hours with both of them talking until their third round of coffee had gone cold, Adam thought he might dare to kiss him in goodbye, but right at that moment Kurt's phone had gone off ( his roommate Rachel, checking up on him) and the moment had been lost. Kurt seemed a little disappointed to cut their evening short, but Adam couldn't repress the feeling that he also looked a little relieved. It was hard to be sure with him, and now that he was in Lima for the wedding of his teacher, and Liam was right here, warm and inviting and familiar - and with his hand already finding his way into Adam's boxers - it was becoming difficult to feel very confident about their relationship. Maybe he had just been fooling himself, and Kurt had just been too polite to shoot him down. Why would anyone so handsome and talented be interested in him anyway?

Liam was pulling down his jeans and Adam lifted his hips to accommodate him. "Liam…" he mumbled, his mind feeling slow but not slow enough to forget the basics, "we should use a condom."

"Knew there was something I forgot to pack…" Liam whispered, chuckling a little. Adam frowned and mentally went through his bathroom cabinet. If there were any left, they'd be hopelessly expired. He hadn't checked in a while. "I don't have any either," he said, pulling away a little.

"It's okay, I got tested last month," his friend replied dismissively, mouthing Adam's skin. He had somehow managed to get his jeans down to his knees and was urging Adam to straddle him, his hands grasping his thighs.

"Yeah, but how many-"

"Not many, Adam, come on-"

Adam felt alcohol and arousal swirl in his stomach. Did he want this badly enough to take the risk? Liam was an old friend, loved and trusted- but they hadn't seen each other in months and Adam had no way of telling what he had been up to, or with whom. If this was one of those moments where life decided to kick him off luck's bench, all of his future chances with Kurt would be lost. Horror swept over him as he thought about the possibility of having to tell Kurt he had an STD, or worse- Kurt getting sick - and that settled it. The moment he realised he cared more about Kurt's well-being than his own, he knew what he had to do.

"I'm sorry, Liam. I'll make us some tea."

* * *

"…and I know it sounds terrible that it took something as tacky as that to make me see it, but honesty is all I have at this moment," Kurt confessed, sitting on Adam's couch, hunched into himself and taking up as little space as he possibly could and looking down on his shoes.

"Kurt…it's okay. I understand. Believe me, I do." As much as Adam knew he ought to be focusing on Kurt's confession - he had slept with his fabulously talented ex-boyfriend in Lima- all his mind seemed to register was what Kurt had said after that: that he regretted it, and he wanted to give dating Adam a try. A serious try; an exclusive one.

Adam took Kurt's hand. "Let's consider everything before today a prologue to our story. Chapter one begins now, right here."

Kurt looked up. 'I'd like that," he replied.

"Me too," Adam agreed.


End file.
